The Outsiders: Why is my face on the cover?
by Stellan-oldaccount
Summary: The Outsiders was published a few years ago and has long since reached almost every bookstore. It wasn't until a call was made by a certain brother was the youngest Curtis set to go find the book and read it. As if the back was not shocking enough...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Outsiders nor any of the characters in it, I am a humble fan. If I did own the book then I would not be telling you all of my little stories, I would be giving them to my publisher.

**Author's Note: **I've been reading a ton of Outsiders fanfictions lately and got the idea to write one of my own. This story takes place a few years in the future of the book, when our beloved character gets a call from Soda of a book he _has _to go read. I may or may not continue with this so please R&R. If people like it then I may continue when I am not working on my other story. Enjoy!-Stellan

* * *

This better be good Soda, I thought as I walked down the street towards the bookstore. My last class had just ended and the next one

was in about forty-five minutes, giving me enough time to go into town. I heard from either Darry or Soda daily now that I was in college.

Soda had insisted I go to the nearest bookstore to look for some book that I _had_ to read under punishment of cake in my hair over

Christmas break. He would do it too.

The bell rang three times as I opened the door and I saw a boy maybe a year younger than myself look up from the counter then go back

to reading something. Supposedly this book had been out for a while, a few years maybe. I looked up and down the shelves wondering

how Soda would even come across a book at all, let alone one he would remember the title of. Towards the middle of the store I

reached the shelf for authors 'H'. It was a few minutes before I spotted the book, pulled it off the shelf, and actually had to wipe a thin

film of dust from the cover. This bookstore was a wreck no wonder is was dusty. The dust cleared to reveal a cover, which made my

heart stop and my face pale, and in letters on the top was the title "The Outsiders".

I forced a laugh this was ridiculous. Hurriedly I flipped the book over to read the back and sure as the sun beating down was a summary

which was just as chilling. My eyes picked out that one single word which I was looking for 'Ponyboy'. This was too scary. I was trying

to believe that Soda had some how planted this when I opened the cover to see the copyright date a few years back. This was real.

I was sweating as I brought the book up to the cash register and put the money down on top of it. The boy looked from the book to my

face, then to the book to my face, and over again. "You know, you kinda look like the guy on the cover," He said with a grin, ringing up

the book and handing it back to me.

I just shrugged and walked out; I had to get back to class. Tonight, back at the dorm I would read this book and find out why my name

was on the back. Why my face was on the cover. And if all this book contained was true.


	2. Chapter 2

Classes were an absolute nightmare. For the life of me I could not concentrate on the speaker. I was usually the one to take notes and ask questions; today I had not even taken the cap off of my pen. An hour passed in a blink of an eye and I was free to go back to my dorm.

I dropped my book bag down on my bed and flung myself down next to it. The door was ajar and I could hear my roommate mumbling something about a stupid report. But he was always mumbling about something so I did not pay much mind to it. As I pulled the book from my bag I reached over with my free hand to undo the cage latch on my side table. I felt around blindly until my hand touched something soft. I wrapped my fingers around the fuzzy body and pulled it out. The mouse perched contentedly on my hands, nibbling at the tips of my fingers. Lets just say, I had needed someone to talk to, who would just listen. Since Soda was hours away and my roommate babbles too much to listen I got myself Checkers. Curious about the name? So is everyone else. I never quite understood why I named him that either.

With a sigh I opened the book to the first page. Before I knew it I was completely caught up. Every word, every feeling, it was like a flashback. Or some freakish dream. I simply could not put the book down. The dinner bell even rang at the dinning hall and I could hear my roommate leave. Checkers bit my fingers for food. I was totally sucked in. Johnny, Two-bit, Soda, Darry, Dally…everyone. Even Cherry. Had this person stalked me? Did I write a book in my sleep or something? When the second bell rang I managed to close the book with much effort. My stomach was growling at a volume loud enough to distract me.

After putting Checkers back in his cage and dropping in some food for him I headed out of the dorm. It was not a long walk to the dinning hall and after getting my plate of food I sat down next to one of my friends. "Hey Chris, I found this really weird…" I started but he cut me off.

"P.B., your late for dinner? What is this, a sign of the apocalypse?" Chris asked, stabbing at a piece of meat with his fork.

"As I was saying, I found this really weird…" I was cut off again.

"Curtis, I've been looking for you!" Thomas Jacobs sat down across from Chris and I. "I found this odd book…"

My turn to cut him off "That has my face on the cover? Yeah, I know."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Outsiders nor any of the characters in it, I am a humble fan. If I did own the book then I would not be telling you all of my little stories, I would be giving them to my publisher. I do own the roomies and Kai.

**Author's Note: **Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. I managed to find a bit of spare time to update this, hopefully updates will become more frequent since summer will soon be upon us.

* * *

I must have shocked Thomas, he stood there for a long moment, just watching me. I'll tell you this now; he is certainly not one of the more intelligent boys. Chris shifted in his seat and I could see him out of the corner of my eye, looking up at me before quickly looking away. Had he read the book? That was impossible, he would have told me the moment he found it, which must have been right now. There was no way he could have finished that book in one day, he took ages to read a textbook chapter.

"But why?" He asked simply, pulling up a chair across from me.

I shrugged in reply, pushing the food on my plate about with a fork.

"Is it all true?" Thomas prodded further, "The story I mean. About your friend dieing and the church and the fighting?"

Calmly, I ran a hand over my slicked back hair before wiping the grease off on my jeans. So he had read it. Nothing was impossible I should have known that. "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not talk about it." Not with them anyways, they didn't need to know about my past. All my hard work to put everything behind me was crashing down. I had tried to forget everything, force it from my brain and move on. That is exactly what my teacher…

"Hey Pony, where are you going?" Chris called after me as I nearly sprinted from the dinning hall.

I didn't take the time to stop and answer him; I had to get to the phone. It didn't take long to get back to the dorm, five minute run at the most. After unlocking the door and entering the room I grabbed the phone so fast that the base fell off the desk. I would pick it up later. My fingers dialed home numbly and I put it to my ear.

"Hello?" Soda's mouth was full of food and he desperately tried to swallow mid-word.

"Soda, it's me. I need you to do me a favor."

"Oh hey Pony." He replied calmly. I could hear him say something to Dally before replacing the phone to his mouth. "Shoot kid."

"That loose floorboard in my bedroom, pull it up. There should be a box down there with some papers in it. I need to know if they're still there."

"Sure, lemme just finish…"

"No, I need you to do this now."

"Fine fine, hold on."

It felt like he took hours. I bent down and placed the phone base back on the desk before sitting on the nearest chair. Finally I heard noise from Soda's side.

"I don't know what papers you're talking about kiddo. There's an empty box." Soda sounded somewhat concerned, which was a surprise coming from him. "Is there something wrong?"

I was frozen. My brain raced. Where was my essay? I never took it out of that box. I buried it for good along with all of those memories. No one but Soda knew I even used that floorboard, and he would have no reason to move anything. Eventually my mind started to thaw and I once again regained control over my vocal chords. "No…thanks anyways." I hung up.

Just as I placed the phone back on the base it began to ring again. I didn't pick it up. But the third time the person called I finally picked up. "Hello?" I said, trying to sound normal.

"Ponyboy?" The voice asked. It sounded familiar…

"Yeah, who's this?"

"Bryon Douglas. I'm not sure if you remember me..." He said in a softer tone.

Bryon Douglas…the name definitely rang a bell. I simply could not match the name with a face.

"Cathy's ex-boyfriend." He added when I didn't respond.

Now it came back to me. Cathy was my first girlfriend. We hadn't spoken in a few years, despite the fact we had decided to stay friends after the break up. I had met Cathy when she was still dating Bryon because he was…

My thought was interrupted by a sound on the other side of the line "Er…Pony?"

"Oh…yeah, Bryon, I remember now. What's up?"

"Well, I got some news that I thought you'd like to know." Something in his voice didn't sound right…

"Oh?"

"Mark was killed. He managed to hitchhike with some poor guys and threatened them…the boy in the car killed him. I don't know how it happened, the police won't tell me anything. But anyways, you two were friends so I figured you should know."

I paused for a moment before replying. I remembered Mark very well, and I remembered what he did to get thrown in jail. It may sound cold but hearing of his death didn't really upset me…at all. "Thanks for letting me know," I replied politely.

"Yeah…well, err…bye."

I hung up.

Not a minute later, there was a knock on the door. As if I needed to face anyone right now, this day was overwhelming enough as it was. Reluctantly, I dragged myself to the door and opened it to reveal a young woman.

"Hi Pony." She said in a sweet tone, brushing back strands of corn silk hair from soft green-blue eyes. Looking at her was like seeing the ocean for the first time, only it happened multiple times.

"Kai…" I sighed, slumping against the opened door.

"You forgot." Her voice sounded so disappointed, I couldn't bring myself to meet her eyes.

"Guess I did. Listen, I'm really sorry, it's been one helluva day for me…I could help you study tomorrow if you want…" I trailed off again. How could I possibly forget my promise?

"Oh, well that's alright," Kai's smile was amazing, at times I wondered how I could even talk to her without making a fool out of myself "Do you want to talk about it?"

I'd never talked to anyone about any of the gang…or Mark…or my story that had somehow managed to publish itself. "Yeah, that'd be nice. Come on in."


End file.
